sorrow & isolation

Either way, he left the building to stroll down to his favorite cafe and relax as he was prone to do. When he first entered, he glanced at a young woman sitting out front, obviously unhappy with her work and it made him chuckle. He hadn’t expected the girl to hear him, but he dipped his head in a nod and carried on inside, wishing her well in his thoughts.

The moment he entered the cafe, a barista was at the ready for him, already listing his options and some of his few favorite choices. He put in an order and as he began to wait for his choice of drink to be prepared, Sinbad glanced over to the outside and almost laughed once he saw the girl trying and failing to hide her gaze from him. He found the gesture sort of cute, and thought perhaps he shouldn’t tease her, and yet he wanted to.

"I-Indeed it is..." She finally breathed out, plucking her coffee from the table once again and taking a sip from it, feeling herself calm down ever so slightly when she drank it. The coffee wasn't exactly warm anymore, but she didn't mind, anything to keep herself relaxed. Her papers were sort of thrown all over the desk, and realizing this, she organized them into a neat pile so there was enough space for the new addition to the table. "Quite a nice day, well, spending it indoors would be a waste of the sun."

Now there was only the problem of how she was going to get her work done with this person now occupying her table with her, clearly distracting her from any and all attempts to try and come up with an idea for her assignment. All her hopes of productivity were out the window, and it was all because of this man. What a bother, she didn't like this feeling at all. She got like this when it came to her older brother, on a much larger scale of course, but still flustered all the same.

Yoku was busy and drowning in deadlines and extracurricular work, both of which were very foreign ideas to Shu. He’d sent her multiple texts, which was in itself kind of a first, seeing as Yoku would usually be the one to send them first. Invitations to hang out were often turned down with clipped responses, most of which consisted  of “i’m busy!! (ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ” or “deadline’s tomorrow! maybe later? （；へ：）”.  Shu always replied with a dutiful “alright.” but before he knew it, her later’s turned into maybe-in-a-few-day’s and even next-week’s.

He could remember feeling jolted when he saw how frazzled she looked during one of their classes together when he decided to actually attend. It was normal for the princess to not have a single hair out of place, her make-up all expertly-applied and clothes chosen impeccably. Kougyoku basically had cuteness in spades. That day she looked downright exhausted.

And that was exactly why he was here right now, in front of her dorm room, staring at the number indicating that this indeed belong to one Kougyoku Ren. He was doing this because he was a concerned friend, worried that if she did not take a break she would run herself ragged. Normally he did not care for others, but Yoku had somehow wormed her way into his life, although ‘crashing in, waving her sword around and demanding to stay there’ probably would have been a better description.

The last time she had seen Shu was during a class they shared, though she couldn't recall what one it was-- she was half asleep during the majority of it and barely concious while she left. It was terrible how she had presented herself, she despised not doing herself up, making herself seem so run-down and weak, but she couldn't help herself. With deadlines and sleepless nights, she was more concerned pulling the paper that had stuck to her face rather than putting on her make-up.

Now, she was back in her dorm by herself, papers thrown messily across the table with her hair thrown into a bun rather than its usual style, a pen sticking out through the middle as she examined the different designs she had sketched out. However, her thoughts were jumbled when her phone buzzed and she blinked. Who was texting her now-- oh, it was Shu again. She was about to type her usual reply of "I'm busy" covered with apologetic emojis, but her fingers froze. It wasn't a text asking her what she was going, it was a command. The door, he was apparently outside her door? Had he knocked? Oh god, had she been so focused she couldn't even hear her door being knocked on?

Opening the door quickly, throwing papers and books back on her desk before she did, the princess was met with the unamused gaze of the heir and she let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of her neck with the hand that wasn't holding the door.

His Kendo classes had become all too popular, perhaps due to the influence of the heiress and model he’d become close to. He knew that people were signing up with the hopes of catching a glimpse of the model or being in a class with the all too adorable heiress. He’d take it, though. Most of those students didn’t last long with the strict teacher anyways, and because of the increased number of students that left all of his classes full, the center was finally willing to allow him to start up a small Iaido class. Sure, it meant more hours for him, but he didn’t mind.

Now, all he needed to do was get the paperwork finished and get a student willing to be the very first. They wanted him to have a “sample,” someone to show how teachable the class was and see if it was even something they wanted to back. He’d planned on asking Eru, figuring she would be his best option. However, the light voice the pierced the silence of the center. His head turned, indigo eyes landing on the short girl. Realization struck him as he realized he’d forgotten to lock the main entrance.

"Is that so..." She mumbled, pulling at the edges of her skirt as she glanced up at the trainer. He still seemed quite young to be teaching classes full-time, but she knew better to judge someone based on appearances. From the way he spoke of his students however, she couldn't help but think he was pretty doubtful of their abilities, especially if he was confident people would drop out within the next few weeks. Coming back in a couple of weeks was an option because of this, and so far the only one she could think of, but she didn't exactly want to wait that long to start training once more.

Though, right now, she didn't exactly have much of a choice. It seemed that besides from herself and the trainer, there was nobody else in the gym. Why was there nobody else in the gym? She was certain that it should be full of people, unless they had closed it for one reason or the other-- oh, that train of thought would have continued further, but with the paper being placed on the counter she stood at, Kougyoku tilted her head to look at it. The name of the activity on it made her think for a second, but then she glanced at the trainer again.

Then she froze up a little at the mention of him being late for work. Had she really been keeping him from such a thing? Oh, she felt her chest tighten as she was about to muster out an apology and leave him to his own business, but looked up at the mention of continuing to speak to him, Could this perhaps be the start of a friendship...? "I-I don't deserve any thanks or anything, I mean anyone would have done the same! Oh, but I wouldn't mind accompanying you for a while, if you don't mind yourself, ah, Ryugazaki-san."

Rei shakes his head pushing those thoughts aside. Pulling out a notebook, he begins to take some notes and writing a few things he needs to do later and for the future. When he checked his clock he nearly jumped at the time realizing he was late for work. Frantically getting up, he grabs his stuff then hurries off but stops hearing someone call after him. “Oh, I’m sorry miss.” the male turns to her and apologizes for inconvenience. 

"No, it's fine so don't worry about it. I wasn't doing anything important anyway, you didn't inconvenience me at all." Truth be told, Kougyoku had absolutely nothing to do. It was a little odd, most of the time she'd be full of different duties to do, always somewhere to be, always something to do-- guess that's what she got for going for a double degree in two subjects with constant deadlines.

Evening walks weren’t exactly a habit, but they were something Judal had found himself partaking in more and more often.  Being cooped up day after day in the Condo was getting too much for the boy to handle, and exploring the city had become like a hobby. It was almost refreshing to live in a city where no one knew his face, and no one knew the reputation that seemed to follow him like a black cloud. Not that said reputation wasn’t justly deserved but being free of those chains had their pluses.

But as comforting as it was to be on a new turf, it also came with the boredom of being entirely alone. His walks were long, and crimson eyes were always watching for something new, or something amusing to catch his eye that might tide over his restless mind for a few hours.

With a sigh of frustration falling off his lips as he made his way up the small stairs to the condo, the teen was feeling more wound tight than he had been when he’d left. Reaching to unlock the door, the boy was surprised to find it already unlocked. Kouen wasn’t due back for another few hours, and he was sure he’d locked it after him when he’d left. With a uncaring shrug he pushed open the door, surprised to see the lights on as well.

It didn’t take long for his ruby gaze to find the ‘intruder’ when it fell on a red haired girl sitting on the couch in their living room. She looked around his age, probably only a few years older if any. Slowly closing the door, Judal just kept his gaze focused on the stranger, though it wasn’t hard to piece together who she had to be. Kouen had dragged them both to the island in search of his siblings that he’d lost contact with… And here was a girl who shared his family features and didn’t seem to be an trespasser… Though despite his understanding of why she might be there, the look on her face only screamed that she had no idea who he was.

It was a nice place, she expected no less, and even the style was well put together-- she hadn't expected that coming from the man with the "stylish goatee in progress" last time she had seen him. Actually, there were several things around the place that didn't seem to be like her brother, and she doubted he had changed that much over the years. Several items here and there that seemed like a teenager's rather than a grown man's, it made her wonder, but she didn't want to pry either, so she stayed where she was on the couch, hands on her lap.

But, with the sound of the opening front door, she jumped in her seat and felt her stomach clench a little. What time was it again? Wasn't he home rather early, the secretary or whoever it was had said he wouldn't be arriving until much later. Questions swarmed in her head until she came to the very quick realization that the person who had walked in was definitely not her sibling. Black hair, red eyes and a pale complexion, there was no way he could be related to her-- though it was debatable, perhaps a cousin... no, she was veering off-track, she had no idea who this person was yet he had casually strolled into her brother's home. A more reasonable idea was a business associate, it made sense, so she took a breath.

"Ah, I was waiting for my brother to return home, someone from his workplace unlocked the door for me when he brought me here," How long ago was that again? An hour or so, probably. It seemed like her estimate was right judging from the clock on the wall. "I'm Kougyoku Ren, his youngest sister, I'm sorry to intrude." He seemed to be focused on questioning her, judging from the expression on his face, and she inwardly sighed.